CAMPBELLTON, N.B. – Rookie Noah Gibbs had a game he won’t soon forget. The Saint-Basile forward had a four-point night (1 goal, 3 assists) to lead the Edmundston Blizzard to a hard-fought 8-6 victory at the den of the Campbellton Tigers on Sunday night.
Gibbs’s goal, coming in at 11:42 of the third period, proved to be the winner. Even though he was ignored by the local commentator who picked the three stars, Gibbs came out on top.
It was a crazy game between the two teams. And this is the first game of its history that the Blizzard is involved in a 13-plus-goal game. Despite their fatigue from a third game in three days, the Tigers looked very energetic early in the game, scoring three straight goals. But the Blizzard fought back with five consecutive goals. The Tigers managed to tie the score at 5-5 but the Blizzard took matters into their own hands afterwards, leading 46-31 in the shots’ column.
Tristan Fortin (second star) also had a strong game for the Blizzard with two goals and one assist, as did Ethan Johnson (1g, 2a). Jesse Chamberlain, with his first MHL career goal, Mitchell McLeod, Alex Savoie, Jérémie Thibodeau (empty net) also beat goaltenders Isaak Pelletier and Cruz Loughlin.
The Tigers’ response came from Camille Marcoux (3g – first star), Daryk Dubé-Plouffe (2g – third star) and Jordan Joseph. Raphaël Audet was Blizzard’s goalie.
The Blizzard completed the weekend with two wins and increased their record to 8-2-1-0 to grab second place in the Eastlink North division they share with the Tigers (7-3-2-1 = 17pts). The Blizzard has two games in hand. Edmundston is 6 points behind the Summerside Western Capitals (11-1-0-1 = 23pts).
By beating the Tigers, 20th in the country, the Blizzard should normally obtain a favorable spot in the Canadian rankings published every Monday. To be continued…
The Blizzard will be resting for a few days before a busy week awaiting them at home. Thursday (7:30 p.m.), Edmundston will face the Grand Falls Rapids. Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and Sunday (3 p.m.), it will be a doubleheader against the mighty Western Capitals.
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Photo
Noah Gibbs enjoyed his best game in the MHL with four points. Photo archives Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone